Homemade Hostess Cupcakes

I made these ages ago. I stumbled upon the recipe while blog hunting during history class and they seemed so easy. Ok, so there are a lot of ingredients but nothing really weird. So how authentic were they? On a scale from 1-10 I'd probably give them an 8. These are delicious. Amazing. Also, they are completely natural compared to the store brand (I can actually recognize all the ingredients). So, in my head, that makes them healthy and completely justified. The filling was frustrating, however. It was difficult to tell the fullness of the cupcakes. Basically it became trial and error. In the end, very worth it.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes
1 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Filling
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla exrtact
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup marshmallow creme
Ganache
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Icing
1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Place oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350. Place paper liners in muffin tin for about 20 cupcakes.

Cupcakes
Place sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Pour into a large bowl. Add the chocolate and butter and let sit, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is melted and the mixture has cooled slightly. Stir in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
Beat the eggs into the chocolate with a mixer, then stir in the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (~1/4 cup batter per cupcake) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. The cupcakes will sink in the middle slightly. Cool in the pans for 25 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool completely.

Filling
While cupcakes are cooling, make the filling. Using a mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar. Add the vanilla and 1 tablespoon heavy cream and beat until smooth. Alternating between batches, beat in the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Beat in the marshmallow creme. Refrigerate until ready to use.

GanachePlace the chocolate in a stainless-steel bowl. Heat the cream and 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan until just boiling, then pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla; let stand until cool but still glossy and liquid.

To AssembleSpoon the filling into a pastry bag with a medium star tip. Insert the tip into the center of each cupcake top; fill until the cupcake is heavier (do not overfill). It's OK if some of the filling peeks out, it will be covered by the ganache. (I thought this part would be complicated and I was worried, but it was fine. I had Mike test one of the cupcakes to make sure I had the right amount of filling in it.)

Spoon a little ganache on each cupcake and lightly spread with an offset spatula or a knife. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing: Using a mixer, beat the remaining 1 stick butter, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, milk and confectioners’ sugar until smooth, adding more milk if needed. Spoon into a pastry bag with a small tip. Pipe onto the cupcakes to decorate.

Store cupcakes in the refrigerator.

Recipe from whatmegansmaking

Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies

So.  I love peanut butter.  That's no secret.  Whenever I give up chocolate for lent, peanut butter are my go to cookies.  But it's always nice for a change and today i changed it up with these supposedly healthy pb cookies.  And I must say, they were delish.  

I have been told they are only 36 calories per cookie, too.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Peanut butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 TSP baking soda

1 egg

Mix the peanut butter and sugar first then add in the egg and baking soda. Bake for 10 minutes on 350 degrees.

I baked them for 12 minutes because I have a weirdo oven.  Also, it doesn't make a lot.  Maybe 24 medium sized cookies.  Around 36 small.  Anyway, this recipe works.  Four ingredients.  Not too bad.

http://healthy-is-perfection.tumblr.com/post/19557541384/rippedknees-healthy-peanut-butter-cookies

Cinnamon Baked Apples

Super easy, super delicious.  

They take awhile to bake, but they're worth it.  I'm a big fan of cinnamon, so these were great.  


Only 153-ish calories.  About 6g of fat, 3.5g of fiber, and 26.4g of carbs


Ingredients include: 

• 2 large apples, cut in half

• 2 tbsp butter, melted

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 2 tbsp flour

• 4 tbsp quick oats

• pinch of cinnamon

Simple directions: 

Preheat oven to 350º. 
In a small bowl combine butter, brown sugar, flour, oats and cinnamon. 

Cut apples in half, core and remove seeds with a small pairing knife or spoon.

Spoon on top of the apple halves and sprinkle with cinnamon. 

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 

Gotta let them cool for awhile otherwise you'll burn the inside of your mouth.   (I hate letting things cool.  It's the worst and seems to be the longest part.)  

They're weird to eat too.  I used a fork and knife.  My brother used a spoon.  Who knows.  

Good luck.  Happy baking.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/09/delightfully-baked-apples.html

Honey Chamomile Cupcakes

I am obsessed with tea. Actually, it's worse than that: I'm a complete tea snob. Not going to lie, I think I'm pretty cool because I use legit tea leaves to make my tea. I steep them and strain them and use fancy rock sugar to make them taste better. I know I'm not the only tea snob out there, but I do enjoy telling people when I'm drinking Blueberry Acai White Tea just to sound fancy. People also tend to get annoyed when I rant about tea's antioxidants and metabolism boosting powers. They simply don't understand that these are the ideas shaping our world today and they can't be overlooked.

Anyways, I found this recipe on Joy the Baker's site and I had to do it. Chamomile tea is the kind that makes me fall asleep, kind of like nature's NyQuil. When I first told my family that I was going to be making chamomile flavored cupcakes, I got these weirded out looks. But they were actually delicious, seriously moist and almost sweet and salty tasting. The icing has a pretty strong honey flavor, so if you don't like honey all that much, I'd tone it down a bit. I made quite a few adaptations from Joy's recipe, mostly because she said to put straight tea leaves into the batter and I didn't like that idea. So I improvised and the result probably isn't as strong a tea flavor and intended but it's still amazing.

Be warned: this recipe only makes about 10 cupcakes. You're going to need to put a lot of effort into getting all the batter out. So, if you want more, just do a double batch. I highly recommend it.

For the Cupcakes:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened [I used salted and it worked fine]

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons dried chamomile [I used a tea bag]

1/2 cup milk [I used 1%]

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Glaze:

approximately 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon honey

about 5 tablespoons heavy cream [I added a little more to change the consistency]

pinch of salt

Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a cupcake pan with paper or foil liners and set aside.

To make the cake: 

1.  In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, pinch of salt.  Mix on medium speed until the mixture is slightly coarse and sandy.  This takes about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, microwave milk for 1:30 and steep tea bag for about 4-5 minutes in the warm milk.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together tea flavored milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour half of the milk mixture into the flour mixture.  Beat until just incorporated.  Pour in the remaining milk mixture, turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat for 1 minute, until well blended.

3. Divide the batter between the prepared cups.  There isn’t a lot of batter so you’ll only fill the cups up half way.  You’ll also need to scrape the bowl for remaining batter. 

4. Bake the cupcakes for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove the cupcakes from the pan to cool completely before frosting.

To make the glaze:

In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, honey, cream, and salt until smooth.  Use a butter knife to generously spread the frosting atop the cooled cupcakes. Decorate however your little heart desires. Cakes will last, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to three days.

I'm not the best decorator in the world, mostly because I eat the food too fast to put enough time into making it pretty. So, I just added a few pearlized sprinkles. Also, because I am a classy person, I ate these with a cup of tea. Get on my level.

Recipe adapted from joythebaker.com
Photo cred: myself, believe it or not.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Wow. First post. This is exciting.


So, reader, welcome to my blog. It's a pretty chill place with a lot of pink. I don't even like pink that much. I'll work on that. Let me take you on a quick tour.


Notice the clever title. Admire the clever title. Laugh at the clever title. Now look around nervously and make sure no one saw. Very good. My apologies to Emily who suggested other names that I callously shot down. If you're curious, this blog was almost called "Oven Mitts." And when I say "almost" I mean "never would have been."


But again, thank you to my wonderful friends who participated in the choosing process. Without you, this would be a titleless blog with no apparent purpose on the World Wide Web and without a single follower in sight. Actually, it is still without a follower in sight. Moving on...


This is primarily a baking blog. On it I will be posting recipes I have completed with varying degrees of success. Most recipes will be from other resources and slightly altered by me, if needed. It should also be noted that I am an amateur baker. In no way should you assume I have any professional training whatsoever. Because of this, you should approach recipes with caution and wear protective goggles at all times. Just kiddng.


All talking aside, time to get down to the nitty gritty. I've done a lot of great recipes lately but haven't taken any pictures of the results. Because of this, I am allowing myself to cheat. Please forgive me. The cookie dough pictures aren't actually mine. Ah, the horror! The deception! But, yeah, it's happening.


First up:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip aka The Life of Any Party


I made this for the Super Bowl this year and it was a major hit. It had just enough sweetness and creaminess. Plus, I overdosed on the mini chocolate chips (but we all know that it's impossible to have too many). I served this dip with animal crackers, which was perfect, but graham crackers would also be great. At one point, we even dipped Hershey's kisses into it. Dignity.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 8-ounce block of cream cheese, softened
3/4 to 1 cup powdered sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar until it dissolves and the mixture starts to bubble. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.

In a separate bowl, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together for 60 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add in brown sugar and butter mixture. Mix until combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
Garnish with additional mini chocolate chips. Serve with animal crackers, nilla wafers or graham crackers.

 Holy Deliciousness.


Adapted (barely) from whatmegansmaking.com
Picture cred also goes to whatmegansmaking.com